JUDGING A COW AND PUTTING HER DRY 325 



Robertson, the Canadian dairy-expert, enumerates as 

 follows the leading points by which to judge a cow : 



"(i) A long udder lengthwise of her body, and very 

 elastic ; the elastic quality means room to make milk. (2) A 

 soft skin a mellow skin, covered with mossy, silky hair ; the 

 skin, if coarse or harsh, means sluggish digestion inside, and 

 that means an expensive cow that does not digest her food 

 or thrive well. (3) A cow should have a large roomy barrel, 

 with broad ribs wide apart, for holding plenty of good, rough, 

 bulky, cheap feed ; it should be filled twice a day. (4) The 

 milk-veins under the cow's belly should be prominent ; 

 prominence is a far more important indication than actual 

 size would be. (5) Firm muscles in the abdomen mean 

 good constitution ; they are the best evidence of endurance 

 and thrift that can be found in a cow, and endurance to 

 stand the strain of giving milk continuously is what is 

 wanted. (6) A cow should have broad loins with long rumps, 

 a rather long lean neck, with clean-cut face and prominent 

 eyes." 



De-sexed or "spayed" cows will milk constantly for 

 years, and give, on the aggregate, a larger yield than cows 

 which calve annually in the usual way. They are specially 

 suited to outlying districts in the colonies, where there is 

 grass all the year round, and where settlers' single cows are 

 many miles from a bull. The milk resembles that of farrow 

 cows, being richer than when cows have been some months 

 pregnant ; but the great gain is in the conservation of the 

 food and energy necessary to produce a calf. 



The best method employed in putting a cow dry, to 

 avoid the risk of losing a quarter through suppuration, is to 

 stop milking, smear the udder with tar (see page 344), and 

 reduce the quantity of food. Milking once a day, every 

 second day, or after a few days when the vessel swells up, is 

 now found to be a mistake. The action of milking encour- 

 ages the secretion of milk, which would otherwise never form, 

 and only retards the drying process. Bleeding from the 

 jugular vein on either side of the neck is at times adopted, 

 and a dose of 16 oz. of Epsom salts is not infrequently 

 administered. This is the only time that salts may be given 

 to a cow in milk, as they reduce the flow, and, to a great 

 degree, permanently for the season. These extreme measures 

 are most applicable to cows giving a considerable quantity of 

 milk, or that have been put to grass before going dry. 



